The London Underground

During our time in London, my family took full advantage of public transportation. When we first arrived at the airport, I was advised that a taxi to London would set me back approximately L80 (or roughly 125 dollars). Conversely, we could take the Underground, commonly known as “the tube.” This option was more affordable. We were traveling at “peak” time, but were able to purchase single fare tickets for less than L20 (about thirty dollars). I was planning to use the tube all day, but was advised by the ticketing agent to wait until I checked into my hotel and then purchase an all-day fare card for the Central London zones (1 and 2). The cost was considerably less this way (about L4 per ticket). All day, for all zones, is a whopping L16.40 (twenty-five dollars). Those prices have increased a bit since our trip a couple of years ago. There are also Visitor Centres available to help travelers map out their trip.

Purchasing the daily ticket option is less expensive if you start your sight-seeing after 9:30 am. That was easy enough for us to accomplish. We enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel each morning before venturing into the tube to purchase our daily tickets. Traveling with three adults and one teenager, the cost was still much cheaper than trying to take a taxi. For the Central London zone off-peak, our tickets were L7.30 (11 dollars) for the adult tickets and L3.40 (just over five dollars) for my son. The teenage ticket range is 11 to 15 years of age. Ten and under is free with a paying adult. If we had purchased the same tickets for peak hours, the cost would have increased slightly to L8.80.

Our time in England was split between four days in the city and three days in the countryside. For this reason, I chose not to purchase the weekly tickets. However, if you are going to be in London for a week, it is worth the extra money to purchase an “Oyster” card that allows you to top up or pay by the week or month. The weekly charges were L30.40 for Central London, L43.60 for zones 1-4 and L55.60 for zones 1-6. Because most tourist attractions are located in Zones 1-2, it makes the most sense to purchase that option, which works out to approximately 45 dollars. Over the course of a week, that will save quite a bit of money. The current Underground prices for adult tickets can be find on the website.

If you have purchased Zones 1-2 and find that you need to go outside your zone, there are a few options. This happened to us unexpectedly when we decided to find an interesting restaurant a few stops past our hotel. We ventured one stop outside of zone 2. When our cards failed to get us through the exit machine, an Underground employee came over to assist. They opened the gate for us and provided us with two options. We could pay an additional 80 pence per adult ticket or we could go without paying the extra charge and take the bus back to the next train station where our cards would work. We opted to pay the difference and stick with the Tube. We learned two things here. First, the Tube caters to tourists and are very helpful in explaining our options. Second, the buses are free regardless of zone. So, if you need to travel outside your zone, you can opt to check the bus schedules and see if that option appeals to you. If time is not a factor, it may be a cheaper way to get where you are going.

The London Underground maintains a website that has plenty of useful information. The home page includes numerous links that help you navigate ticket prices, maps and transportation options. Among the tools available on the website is a Journey Planner. This allows you to program in your location and destination. The website takes that information to provide you with a variety of routes to your destination. This includes a combination of walking, train and bus routes as well as estimated travel times. There is also a chart that indicates which Tube lines are having issues to help you navigate around trouble areas.

Because we did not have telephone access, we relied on pre-planning for most of our travel. There are several applications available that allow you to plan “offline” as well as active planning options. Tube Tamer is a free application that works well. My wife downloaded a couple of apps, but I preferred to simply use the website when we had wi-fi service. This option was quick, easy and effective. Another program is called Tube Map Pro and use to run L1.49 to download. It appears it is ten dollars now. This application uses GPS if you have local access. Since we did not, the added option was useless to us. Other available apps include Tube Deluxe, London Tube 09, iTrans London Tube (free) and Tube Map (free).

Okay, I have talked about maps and apps…but what about gaps? Easy enough. I mention the "gap" for two reasons. First, the Underground mantra is "mind the gap." Riders are constantly warned about the gap between train and platform that is sometimes as wide as a foot. An easy way to twist your ankle if you aren't paying attention. The other "gap" I am referring to is the distance between trains. If you are switching between two lines, they may appear on the map to be at the same "stop." But the actual gap between the trains may be a five minute walk or more. Beware that you will do plenty of walking if you take the Tube.

The trains appear to be in relatively stable condition, although many are older and squeak a bit. The trains run every couple of minutes at peak hours, but are often overcrowded to the point that it becomes difficult to keep a family with young children together. The trains thin out later in the evening, with wait times generally under five minutes. With older children, we did not have much trouble squeezing onto the crowded trains during high volume travel. I did witness two traveling companions get separated by a closing door during rush hour. That appeared to be an isolated incident. The train lines have names that provide some indication as to where they go. They are color-coded, with interior handrails that match the color scheme to help keep you on the right train (some trains leave from the same platform). The final destination is also displayed on a digital sign on the exterior of the train.

Tickets can be purchased from any of the train stations. With the Oyster card, you can top up right from the app. Most of London's attractions are very close to an Underground Station, so it is fairly easy to navigate the city using the train. If you have questions on the best way to get where you are going and you have not downloaded a map or application, there are still options. There are underground maps in all of the train stations along with employees who politely direct you to the quickest route to your destination. I found myself asking for directions a few times when we made unplanned stops along the way. The Underground employees knew most of the routes by heart. We only had to call in reinforcements once, when I was trying to find the best route to Millennium Bridge. Below is a video from the Underground with some additional travel tips:

The Underground is a bustling maze of trains and people. The movements sometimes feel chaotic as masses of flesh push onto crowded trains or jockey towards exits or connecting rails. Well placed signs, thorough maps and helpful underground personnel help make the journey easier for the uninitiated. The Underground is a less expensive alternative to taxi cabs and a welcome alternative to walking everywhere. We made good use of our day-passes, riding the trains several times a day to get around town. I would highly recommend getting day or week passes if your are sightseeing. We saved a great deal of money going that route. The "tube" is 150 years old, so it is not the cleanest, newest or prettiest subway in the world. But it is definitely effective.

All photos are mine. Screen shots are from the London Transport website and iTunes store. Videos are from the London Transport website.